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While much of the MAHA conversation has centered on artificial dyes and ultra-processed foods, another critical issue — the rampant use of antibiotics in meat served to America’s schoolchildren — has received far less attention.
That may be about to change.
Led by ButcherBox, a coalition of 28 companies and organizations has sent an open letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, urging her to establish quality standards for meat and seafood in the National School Lunch Program — specifically, standards that prohibit the use of antibiotics.
The stakes are enormous. The National School Lunch Program fed nearly 29.4 million children on a typical school day in 2024, yet the meat and seafood served in those meals face no federal standard barring antibiotics.
Most animals raised for meat are given antibiotics not to treat illness but to compensate for overcrowded conditions — a practice that can accelerate antibiotic resistance in both animals and humans, leading to increased illness, mortality and an inability to treat disease or perform routine surgeries.
ButcherBox — a $560M company that sells organic chicken and beef, and has a strict prohibition on antibiotics and 200 other ingredients — originated the effort and assembled the coalition. Its change.org petition has since gathered nearly 30,000 signatures.
“Our mission is to bring better meat and seafood to the table, and we realized there were no quality standards for meat and seafood in the National School Lunch Program,” said Kelly Hilovsky, senior director of impact and sustainability at ButcherBox. “This was of grave concern to many of our customers, including employees of ButcherBox, many of whom are parents. We do not know what to expect in kids’ lunchrooms.”
Heidi Diestel, a fourth-generation farmer at Diestel Family Ranch, a member of the coalition and a current supplier of organic turkey to California schools, is even more blunt in her assessment: “Our school lunch programs are an atrocity throughout the nation, and kids drastically need a change. Food is mission critical.”
IT CAN BE DONE AT SCALE
Few people are better positioned to weigh in on feasibility than Dr. Katie Wilson, executive director of the Urban School Food Alliance, whose member districts purchase 40 million pounds of chicken annually. Her organization successfully piloted a program delivering 1.5 million pounds of antibiotic-free chicken products to schools, even as Big Ag tried to derail it.
The challenge now is scaling that success nationally. Given that the top four poultry companies control nearly 60% of the market, the USDA’s involvement is essential.
“It will be a volume issue,” she said. “It will take the federal government to empower producers.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
This letter is a first step — not the finish line. The coalition made a purposeful decision to lead with antibiotics rather than demand organic sourcing outright.
“There is a great deal of room for improvement in school lunches, and ‘no antibiotics’ is a way to start,” said Kelly Hilovsky. “We thought the smartest approach was to keep the story succinct and have it squarely focused on antibiotics.”
It is already proving to be a wise place to start. The USDA has responded, and a meeting is expected within the next two weeks.
ButcherBox has done the hard work of getting this on the table. What happens next depends on how many people — consumers, parents, brands and advocates — decide this issue is worth fighting for.
The question now is whether the federal government will finally act — or whether 29 million children will keep eating antibiotic-raised meat, with no federal standard to protect them.
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With gratitude, 
Max Goldberg, Founder |
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